The Stolen Key
by Kessie-Louise
Summary: Luke is all grown up! Together, with his neighbor and partner in crime Nat, the duo sets out to find a missing key that is as old as the town itself. Little do they know that this will launch into more trouble and adventures for them as they uncover the mystery of a town whose name means 'remember.' Could evolve into a 3 or 4 part series with TLC! R&R!
1. The Stolen Key

"Luke, this is ridiculous."

"Ah, but Nat, you haven't even gotten to the hard stuff yet."

"I don't see why you're asking me what the _flip _a triangle is when you just gave me the answer."

"It helps exercise your cognitive memory Nat. I know what I'm doing."

"What you're doing is reviewing me for the math test."

"Killing two birds with one stone isn't a bad hobby."

"If you really wanted to test my cognition, you should have just let me play Pong."

The teenaged boy in the blue cap laughed at the red head with braids.

. . .

Many years have passed for Luke Triton since departing from Professor Layton in England. A lot has happened too. Almost simultaneous to his arrival, another family was moving in next door. This family had a girl with them that was a few months younger than Luke. She was a red-haired American menace. But docile, once he got to know her and she settled down a bit. Apparently, she had not taken her family's move very kindly but once she knew someone in the new town (which happened to be Luke) she calmed down quite a bit. She still wasn't a Flora though. Not that Luke expected her to be, but some times it would have been nice...

But today, though, he was making her review for their math test. He enjoyed how much it mad her mad. What he saw as a large puzzle, she saw as an abomination to nature to mix letters and numbers in the same calculation. She wasn't the only one in their class to think that way, but she was the only one he cared about. Nat's mind was rather brilliant too. It was like nesting boxes, wherein one thought hid inside another in a very organized way. But, like a box, her mind only carried so much at a time. Luke's mind was more open, and nearly just as organized. Sure, a wandering thought would enter his mind with no way out, but more often than none it was used in some way. In Nat's mind, if there was a wandering thought, if she didn't like it, she disposed of it quickly. No more thoughts for her if she couldn't stand it.

She refused to have any thoughts on math. Unfortunately for him. Nat was very, very, _very_ stubborn.

"Luke, I am _finished_!" Nat declared with anger, picking up her math book and forcing it to slam onto the table. Being in the town's library, it only seemed natural that someone had turned around to silence them. Nat, quite riled up by now, growled at their silencer then turned back to Luke.

"We can pack up." Luke agreed. "But be aware that we're going to continue this at home."

"Not that I'll do it there either." Nat mumbled. Luke chose to ignore her and started to pack up their books into his canvas satchel. Nat helped him and once their stuff was cleared from their workspace, the duo began to leave the library.

On their way out, Luke let Nat go through the revolving doors first. Waiting for her to go through, he looked up at the door frame above and he stood there. Nat noticed that he wasn't following her and went back through the revolving door to him.

"What are you looking at?" Nat asked him, looking up at the door frame as well.

"Nat..." Luke said, his voice sounding slightly distant, "Here's a puzzle for you, what used to hang right there on the door frame where the nail is?"

Nat looked at the spot for awhile, thinking back to an object hardly anyone looked at.

"A key." she finally said.

"What kind of key?"

"A brass one. You could tell how old it was because it was collecting dust and stuff on it since it was placed in that exact door frame. Why?"

"That's what I thought..." Luke said, still sounding rather distant. Then, slowly, his face started to show an expression of delight and excitement. Nat groaned when she recognized that face.

"I know that look." Nat bemoaned. "And it means nothing good for the rest of us."

Luke looked at her and smiled.

"We're going on a key quest!" he told her with zeal.


	2. Secret at the Bank

Nat looked at Luke with disbelief.

"How are we going to start?" she asked him. "We don't have any idea where the key went, or why any one would take it. It was useless! An idiot would take it, it... does... nothing!"

"Some one thought it would have." Luke pointed out. "Follow me!"

With that, Luke turned around and headed toward the library's town archives. Nat followed him, but was holding back some rather unkind thinkings.

Luke knew just were to go in the library's town archives to get the book he wanted off the shelf. Nat watched him as he lovingly dusted off the book then place it on a nearby table. She watched as he almost instinctively flipped to the page he wanted and beckoned her to get closer.

"Here's a puzzle for you," Luke told her as she got closer, "Doesn't that building look familiar?"

Nat looked at the picture in the old book. The picture detailed a fabulous stone building with a highly elaborate facade.

"That... was the original town hall." Nat said, letting her thoughts gather. "But nowadays its the bank, even though they totally destroyed the original facade during the town's 100th anniversary in an effort to 'remodel' it."

"And...?"

"And..." Nat continued, letting Luke watch her as the boxes inside her mental capacity unfold themselves and rearrange to find the information she needed. Suddenly, she jumped when she realized something. "That was the design on the bow of the key!"

"Well done girl!" Luke congratulated. "Now, imagine this; What if whoever took the key knew that it worked at city hall, but was not aware that the original city hall was, in fact, the bank. What do you think they would have done?"

"Get very mad, I'm sure." Nat chuckled a bit. "Where ever they wanted to jam that key wouldn't have worked."

Luke smiled, appreciative of his friend's reasoning. He put the book back and they headed out the library door for real this time. Nat followed dutifully as the duo rode their bikes up Third Street and took a left on Old Town Road to get to town hall. Luke nearly leaped off of his bike and immediately began to dig his hand in the trash bin outside of town hall. Nat barely surpassed the urge to make a disgusted sound and Luke dug out something from the trash. His smile was wide when he withdrew a decent sized brass key. Nat couldn't believe it.

"You... found it." she said, not sure whether to be surprised or completely overwhelmed on how he knew it was there. Luke, rather shamefully, enjoyed her mixed confusion.

"Now we need to take a trip to the bank." he told her. "Hope you don't need to make any deposits while we're there."

Nat refrained from making any comments as the two got their bikes ready to take a trip down the road to the bank. Unknown to them, they were being watched from across the street. Their stalker looked at Luke, almost in a state of doubt. Was that really him? Layton's once apprentice? Well, one thing was for sure, the boy had found the key although it would have gone unnoticed by anyone else. And now he was going to were the key really belonged and unknowingly find the treasures within. But, that would begin to lead to a chain of effects that could easily endanger the kids. Then again...

The stalker dug into his pocket and withdrew a device similar to a walkie-talkie. He pressed a black button on the side and started to put in a code much like Morse code, but a bit more scattered. The stalker put the walkie-talkie up to his ear to hear the reply message and nodded. The stalker than began to walk behind the kids, to see where they would go. Even if the boy wasn't Hershel Layton's once apprentice, he would prove to be quite valuable. And if someone didn't comply, the girl could be used as well as a form of... motivation.

Meanwhile, Nat followed Luke as they went into the bank.

"Here's a puzzle for you Nat," Luke mused to his friend, "If you had something that you wanted to keep secret for a long time, and knew that there was a possibility of the hiding place changing over time, where would you hide the thing you wanted to hide?"

"Well," Nat started to say, "It wouldn't be in the exterior, anyone could tear that down and remodel it. It more than likely wouldn't be in the floor or walls because someone would have found it while taking down the wallpaper or carpeting."

"Then _where_ would it be?" Luke asked her. Nat had to stand back a little to think about it.

"Well... if the only clue is a key, which is obviously meant to go into a special keyhole, then it would have to be a door or something."

"Why can't it be a trunk or something similar?" Luke asked her, growing quite proud at her.

"Because you can move a suitcase anywhere in the world. But whatever this key is meant to go to, it must go to something that can no be moved easily. Like a door without hinges."

"Doors have hinges Nat." Luke chuckled a little. "That's how they open and close!"

"You knew what I meant!" she snapped at him. "And who's to say that the door in question can't be separated from the door post, which is why the person that made the key made the bow the way it was; only one door can be unlocked, but not unless that key is jammed into it first. It would also serve as a way to ensure that the secret entrance to whatever is kept in tact for years and years and years."

"Well done girl!" Luke said profoundly with a slow clap. "Now, were would that door be?"

Nat gave Luke a look of certain death.

"Why are you making me think all this through? Can't you just give me a hint, or just do it yourself?" she asked him. Luke laughed at her.

"But that would take the fun out of it!" he told her.

"As if you never asked for a hint before in your life." Nat retorted, folding her arms. Luke smiled at her.

"Okay then," he agreed. "We'll get some help."

Nat rolled her eyes. Was it really that hard?

To prove to her how deceitfully simple it was, Luke walked up to a teller. He smiled at her and asked,

"Hello ma'am, my friend and I were researching the bank for its roots of its original days as the town hall. Would you know of anyone that could help us?"

The teller, who looked to be around the age of being in college, looked at Luke. Then, slowly, she started to smile in a way that made Nat realize something; the teller was infatuated with him!

"I think I know someone." the teller said in a sickeningly sweet tone that Nat hoped she would _never_ hear again. The teller then paged someone and the bank manager came out.

"You called for me Sherri?" the manager asked. His stiff and proper suit matched with his stiff and proper tone of voice.

"This proper young man would like to have a tour of our bank." the teller told her boss. "He wants to know more about the facility when it was the town hall."

The manager looked at Luke and Nat. Luke gave the honorable manager a sweet smile. Nat just stood there, in a mixed emotion about Luke's way of persuading people.

"Very well then." the bank manager agreed. "Follow me if you will."

Nat threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. How did Luke do it?!


	3. The Hidden Room

The manager took the kids to his office and let them take a seat.

"Now, what would you children like to know about this beautiful piece of history?" the bank manager asked, taking a seat at his desk.

"My friend and I were wondering if there were any doors here that would not open." Luke told the manager, quite frank about the subject. The manager gave a start so horrible, it looked as if he had been shocked by a thousand volt hot wire. His reaction inspired Nat and Luke's reaction toward him.

"How do you kids know about that door?" the manager asked them, his tone sounded much more dark.

"We found a certain key." Luke said, doing his best to be ambiguous. "And we would like to try it on the only door that will not open for anyone."

The manager looked at Luke, then at Nat, then back at Luke.

"I have no reason to trust you, and I have all reason to kick you two out of this office." the manager told them.

"Understood." Luke agreed. Nat just sat there. Negotiating was Luke's thing... among other talents she envied.

"But if you have the key that could open that door..." the bank manager started to say but trailed off.

"Of course we do. Nat, if you would?" Luke agreed, turning to his friend. Nat dug into her pocket and withdrew the key, keeping it in the manager's eye range but still far enough from him so he couldn't take it. The manager nodded his head.

"Follow me." he said, getting up. Luke and Nat took his lead and followed him out of the room and down the hallway. They approached a door at the end of the hall, and the manager got out his own set of keys.

"This used to be the mayor's office when the bank was still town hall." the manager told them as he let them in. The room was rather huge and looked almost untouched. All that remained in the room was a large wooden desk that have years of dust coating the top of it, but other than that, it had been rather empty. The manager left the kids at the door to walk over to a large portrait of the original mayor (whose name was not on the portrait itself) and pulled on a side edge in the same manner someone would open a door without a handle. The portrait swung out the way to reveal a hidden door made out of aged brass, the same kind of brass that the key was made out of. The bank manager turned to the kids and nodded at them; a silent signal of telling them to do whatever they were going to do. Nat, who had the key, walked over to the unhidden door and carefully placed the key into the keyhole. It took her some effort, but she was able to hear a click in the keyhole, something she hoped that meant she had successfully unlocked the door. It had, luckily for her.

Carefully, she pulled the door away in the same manner the manager had moved the portrait and stared at what she saw.

"What is it Nat?" Luke asked her, anxiously walking over to her. Nat bent down and picked something up. She turned around to face Luke with a decent sized piece of paper in her hand. The paper was yellowed and felt musty, almost as in testament for how long it had been hidden away. Nat and Luke looked at each other and gave each other the same bewildered look.

. . .

"I wonder if the Professor would know about this..." Luke said to himself as he carefully looked the aged paper under a magnifying glass. Luke was sitting at his desk in a room meant to be a walk in closet in his bedroom. Nat was sitting on her bed, only barely hearing what he was saying, as she tried to strategically string a piece of thick knitting yarn around the old brass key.

"Why don't you send it to him?" she asked. Luke turned around to look at her.

"I'm not sending the original copy on a sea-bound trip to England." he told her.

"Send him a copy." Nat retorted, looking up at him. "Take a picture. I never said you had to give the original."

Luke looked at her for a little longer, admiring and hating her at the same time, then returned to his inspection. Nat looked down at the key and saw she had found a successful solution to wrapping the key around the yarn without hiding too much of the key, so she got off of Luke's bed and walked over to him.

"Can you help me put this on?" she asked him. Luke turned around to face her again. She held out her creation with the face of a child who knew that they were in trouble, but was silently pleading in the most heartbreaking way possible. Luke couldn't help smile smile a little at her.

"Sure." he agreed, then helped her tie the key necklace around her neck, making sure that if she wanted to take it off later, there would be enough yarn left that all she had to do was pull it over her head.

"Thank you." she told him, rather grateful. "Do you think we'll find anything else to keep for later?"

Luke looked at his friend and smiled.

"Maybe." he agreed with a small chuckle. "Who knows, we might even find an animal friend to take along with us."

Luke and Nat looked at each other and just laughed.


	4. To Be Continued

Nat fingered her key necklace during the math test. She was rubbing off some rust that had covered the key for some time. Her fingers were almost as red as the rust itself at this point, and her pants now had little rust bits effectively making her a walking flake next time she got up. She didn't care right now though, the boxes that made up her mind were trying to unpack and rearrange themselves to remember what Luke had drilled her on so rigorously. It wouldn't have been so bad, but she was beginning to fear that she couldn't remember anything Luke had helped her with after their little mystery adventure a few days ago.

The duo had sent a copy of the yellowed paper they had found to Luke's old mentor, Professor Layton, along with what Luke had thought of what the paper could be. Among all things, he believed it was a map. But the two haven't heard back from the old professor yet, so they were still taking guesses at what the paper could have been. None of them were helpful, although it kept them hopeful.

Eventually, Nat finished her test and was allowed out of the classroom. Luke was already waiting for her.

"How did it go?" he asked her, genuinely curious.

"I think I failed." she told him, rather truthfully. To her surprise, he just shrugged it off.

"No big deal." he said with words Nat never thought he'd ever say in his entire life. "We'll go to the bowling alley so you can vent our your bad grade."

Nat looked at him.

"Really?" she asked in surprise. _Was_ she hearing him correctly?

"Sure." he agreed. She looked at him. What was going on here?

. . .

Long ago, way back when the Ulmers were still in America, Nat recalled that the bowling alley had been almost a second home to her family. It was where her parents entertained the important guests that had a good deal in deciding whether her parents could still have their jobs or not. And there had been a lot of those guests, if Nat remembered correctly. And a lot of times in the bowling alley earning more strikes and spares than the upper class looking managers and CEOs.

When Luke and Nat went to their hometown's bowling alley, everyone prepared to get creamed by the girl with braided red hair.

Nat bowled a perfect turkey and began to cheer herself. The guy bowling next to her gave her a weird look. Luke smiled a little from the sideline. Watching Nat bowl was pretty amusing, especially when she threw her hands up in the air like a football referee declaring a touchdown. In some form or another, it was her victory dance. Eventually, during her third game, Nat sat next to Luke to take a short break.

"Alrighty mister," she said, turning to look at him, "Why did you bring me here? I know bowling isn't your thing and you'd rather be anywhere but here. Explain yourself."

"I just thought you needed a break from our adventure a few days before. Nothing special." he told her, but unconsciously squeezed her hand a little. She looked at him. She wasn't going to lie, he was beginning to scare her.

"Something is wrong." Nat told him, lifting his hand with some disgust and placing it on his lap. "Tell me what happened."

The look on Luke's face made Nat want to slap him in hopes of getting rid of it.

"Did you hear back from the professor?" Nat asked him.

"No." Luke admitted. "But I did get a letter."

"From who? For what?" Nat persisted. Luke didn't look at her. Nat stood up, her stubbornness kicking in.

"Tell me!" she persisted. Luke knew that she was going to keep going at this until she got an answer. He took a deep breath out before starting.

"Yesterday, I received a letter. It... we were being watched on our little mystery."

"So?" Nat asked, not seeing the significance.

"Back when I was Professor Layton's apprentice, in our first years together we ran into a terrible organization. We couldn't trust anyone, not even the one closest to us." Luke paused for a moment, trying not to think back. It had been so long ago, but most of it came back to him like it was yesterday. "They told me in the letter that the key was only a piece of what our town is hiding from normal eyes. They want us to solve the puzzle of our town, if not..."

Nat gave him a side look.

"If not...?"

"They'll hurt you."

Nat looked at Luke, and he looked back at her. She sat down, her knees suddenly feeling weak.

"So.. they'll hurt me if you don't help them, because we solved a puzzle before their own moles could?" she asked.

"That's... one way of looking at it." Luke nodded. "Sort of.."

"It sounds like a challenge." Nat then said, standing up again with a smile on her face.

"What?!" Luke asked, standing up as well in surprise.

"If they want us to solve their little homework, we'll do it." Nat declared. "If rebelling against them only brings the harsh consequences, then we can do what they want. If I remember correctly, you wanted to have an adventure just like you did with the professor. Guess what? We have one now."

"Nat, you're insane!" Luke told her. "You have _no_ idea what the Tar-"

"Luke... do you really think I care right now?" she asked him bluntly. "Soon we're gonna hear back from the professor, and we'll receive our next clue. Maybe we can find a way so that what we find doesn't go into the wrong hands, and we'll _have_ our big adventure."

"Our parents..." Luke tried to protest. Nat was having none of it.

"Your parents let you get into high risk situations with a man that wasn't of your blood, and you know how laid back mine are. I don't think that's an issue."

Luke looked at Nat hopelessly. There was no changing her mind. There was no going back.

"We're gonna die." he said, giving in.

"To die would be an awfully great adventure." Nat quipped back. Luke shook his hand, admiring and hating the girl at the same time. They were going to die.


End file.
